Iranian military sources say the country has reestablished strict control over the Strait of Hormuz, while US commentary says the waterway is open even as a US blockade on Iran remains in effect; maritime monitors report resumed tanker movements carrying millions of barrels of oil.
Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said a shooter in Holosiivskyi district killed two people, wounded five, and is currently inside a supermarket while police carry out a special operation to detain him.
On 18 April 2026 Iran returned the Strait of Hormuz to military control a day after reopening, a step that complicates prospects for an imminent deal with the United States while President Trump maintains optimism.
President Macron identified the dead soldier as Staff Sergeant Florian Montorio, said three comrades were wounded, and called on Lebanon to arrest those responsible while coordinating with the U.N. mission UNIFIL.
Real Sociedad won the Copa del Rey in Seville on April 18, beating Atletico Madrid 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw, with goalkeeper Unai Marrero saving two spot kicks.
President Claudia Sheinbaum goes to Barcelona to join a gathering of leftist leaders and to ease a diplomatic rift with Spain while insisting the meeting is not aimed at the United States.
The administration plans an executive order to expand research and ease federal limits on psychedelics, including $50 million for ibogaine studies, while directing agencies to speed approvals and reduce research barriers.
North Korea fired suspected ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on April 19, marking its seventh ballistic missile launch this year and fourth in April alone. Japan's Defense Minister confirmed multiple launches with projectiles falling outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. South Korea's military is analyzing the missiles' specifications. The tests violate UN Security Council resolutions, though Pyongyang rejects the restrictions as a sovereign right to self-defense. Japan, the United States, and South Korea are coordinating their response.
Israeli forces said they struck Hezbollah positions after militants neared the UN demarcation known as the yellow line; Hezbollah called the moves a ceasefire breach and said it would notify Iran while the US said it has barred Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
UK Maritime Trade Operations reports a tanker was fired on by two gunboats it linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and says the vessel and crew were reported safe on 18 April 2026.
A 58-year-old man opened fire in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district on April 18, killing six and injuring 14 before barricading himself in a supermarket where police killed him after failed negotiations, and authorities are treating the case as a possible terrorist act.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz during a brief ceasefire comes after weeks of blockade and counterblockade, spiking oil prices and creating immediate risks to jet fuel, fertiliser flows and vital industrial inputs that could spread into a global food and supply crisis.